Kinshasa rally in support of DR Congo's Kabila draws thousands

Thousands of supporters celebrated Congolese leader Joseph Kabila’s birthday with a rally in Kinshasa Saturday, at which a party supremo floated the idea of holding a referendum to extend the president’s rule. The suggestion is likely to fuel opposition suspicion that Kabila, in power since his father’s assassination in 2001, is preparing to remain in office beyond his two-term limit which ends in December. In a show of support for Kabila, some 5,000 people marched through the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo in a carnival-like atmosphere before gathering at a stadium to mark the leader’s 45th birthday, an AFP reporter saw.